Amarnath attack mastermind killed

Abu was also involved in at least 15 criminal cases including, murder, dacoity and other militancy cases

ABU Ismail, the Lashkar-e-Toiba commander who masterminded the deadly attack on Amarnath yatra pilgrims in July, was killed by security forces here on Thursday along with another Pakistani terrorist, police said.The two were gunned down after a brief encounter that saw the duo running for their lives.

“On specific information, a joint operation was launched in Aribagh in Nowgam area on the outskirts of Srinagar city. It was around 4:15 pm that a contact was established with the two hiding terrorists in a house there. In a very brief encounter, both the terrorists were killed,” Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, Munir Khan said.

He was addressing a joint press conference along with general officer commanding of the Army’s Victor Force, Major General B S Raju, and IG CRPF Ravideep Singh Sahi.Khan said the other terrorist has been identified as Abu Qasim alias Chota Qasim.

“The bodies of the slain terrorists have been kept at the appropriate place for appropriate disposal,” he said.The IGP said two AK rifles, UBGLs and other material were recovered from them.

He said Ismail was involved in 15 cases including the July 10 attack on a bus carrying Amarnath yatra pilgrims in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district which left eight of them dead.

“After the elimination of Abu Dujana, he (Ismail) had taken over as the chief of LeT in the valley. He was involved in around 15 criminal cases in Valley which included murder, dacoities and other militancy related incidents. So, I compliment our teams for executing a wonderful operation with no collateral damage,” Khan said.

“The day they (militants) killed yatris, the people said that they should be brought to justice and today they have been brought to justice. It is a great success for the security forces. A chapter of these terrorists has been closed. Tomorrow will be a new day for us.

“When the attack took place, there was total condemnation of the act committed by terrorists from all sections of the society and people said loud and clear that these killers must be killed. So, from that day onwards, these killers were our targets and our teams – whether they be police, army or the CRPF - were looking for them,” he said.Asked whether all the militants behind the attack have been neutralised, the IGP said “One foreign and one local terrorists are left.”